Bevan Docherty - Super-human Triathlon Sprint Finish

2004 Olympics triathlon silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand lives up to his motto of "He who wants it most wins!" Here, he sprints from behind to clutch victory from the grasp of compatriot Kris Gemmell at the 2005 New Plymouth ITU World Cup triathlon.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• triathlon
• docherty
• champion
• guts
• glory
• ITU

[Maccaism]

ah the good ol' days before the brownlee brothers

[milesian1]

@Maccaism Ain't it the truth! Nothing's the same since those British blokes blew the whole sport apart. But it will eventually catch up with them... maybe.

[darrenlachel1]

I disagree with the quote at the end.

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra effort."

There is nothing little about the efforts these pros. put in to be extraordinary. The point to which these athletes push themselves is unbelievable, only a few can handle it.

Sorry to be criticle of this amazing video, it pumps me up before big races.

[milesian1]

@darrenlachel1 Glad the video pumps you up before races.

What's extraordinary is the day to day commitment of top athletes. That's where the real extra effort is spent, like on watching everything that one ingests, getting extra sleep, getting up to go to the pool nearly every morning when it's still dark out... and maintaining that commitment day after day for years.

[milesian1]

@gpwell

They sprinted at the end because they had to. The level in the sport is so high now there are athletes running sub-30 10Ks after swimming 1500m in national-class time and cycling 40K in under an hour. And saying you can't get into triathlons tells nothing about the sport and more about you. If you don't like it, fine. Happy trails.

[MrPhilosophicalpanda]

@Brandonlcosta What?! Lol, did you see him looking over his shoulder every 2 seconds? He knew that guy was comin for him and they were both giving it all they had. It's not like he just expected his kick was good enough. He saw the guy coming up behind him but he couldn't go any faster.

[McL0vable]

Fantastic sprint! Epic to watch!

[innismor11]

@milesian1 An exception doesn't make a rule. Those two are certainly exceptions. There aren't many (any?) others. There'll be those that try to get away on the bike leg, there always have been, since the distance went draft-legal, but successes all the way to the finish line are rare, and 30 minute 10K's for them even more so. The ITU races don't have domestiques; I expect London will be pretty crowded with them (amongst the serious contenders). We'll see next summer.

[milesian1]

@innismor11 Have you been paying attention to ITU races lately? The Brownlee brothers have made cycling relevant again. Yes, Alistair is a fantastic runner, and could win a lot of races from a bunch run start, but in some races they simply ride away and stay away. A couple years ago the athletes could get away with 200K/wk. of bike training; now they're back up to 500K just to stay in the same bike pack.

[innismor11]

@cicirunner Hey, sub-3 is good. nothing to sneeze at. As you know it is not world class, including 2:47. Alexander et al would run 2:22 to 2:26 at NYC (still not world class), but a good 20-25 minutes faster than Lance did. You put them in an Ironman marathon and the gap to Lance would be 30- 40 minutes there, at least; more if he hammered the bike at all (and that would only get him 10-15 minutes max on Alexander et al). He thinks / wishes aloud at times, and he shouldn't.

[cicirunner]

@innismor11 You make good points. I guess Lance can't compete with the pros. From a general perspective though, I think 2:47 is really good. Running is my best sport and I could probably only run low 2:50's.

[innismor11]

@cicirunner Lance trained his butt off for a year to shave that 13 minutes (only), and at age 36 (4 years ago) It's likely when he decided he was never going to be a competitive Ironman. Craig Alexander (age 38) did 2:44 at Ironman this year on his way to a third win. After the swim and bike (no drafting) 25.5 mph for 4.5 hrs, and all in searing 90 degree lava field heat. NYC in November is nice and cool. Nah, Lance realized he hadn't a hope in hell of being competitive. 2:47 is pfft

[cicirunner]

@gpwell I will agree that a good amount have a weakness, but I'm sure they can do at least one of the 3 sports fast. It also depends on your definition of fast.

[cicirunner]

@innismor11 Well Lance did run like a 2:47 in NY.

[innismor11]

@cicirunner Lance has always liked to talk the talk. You can't take everything he says seriously. I certainly never expected him to ever show (seriously) at Kona. He was never a good runner, even in his (young) tri days. Last year he had a tough time breaking 3 hours in a road marathon he trained for. But even Lance agrees the Tour guys couldn't touch the Ironman cyclist after a swim effort; and vice versa on a straight up time trial. 2 different beasts.